Pyongyang fest announces winners

'Assembly, 'Atonement' take home top awards

BEIJING – Chinese military blockbuster “Assembly” and British period drama “Atonement” scooped most of the top awards at the 11th Pyongyang Intl. Film Festival, which closed Friday.

“Assembly,” helmed by Feng Xiaogang, won best film, best director and the technical award, while “Atonement” walked off with best photography and art direction.

Best screenplay went to Iranian drugs drama “Mainline,” directed by Rakhshan Bani-Etemad and Mohsen Abdolvahab, which also copped best actress award for Baran Kosari as a recovering heroin addict.

The five-member jury, headed by Chinese director Huang Jianxin, gave best actor prize to Sasa Petrovic, as a middleaged Sarajevo cabbie in the Bosnian-Herzegovinian urban fairytale, “It’s Hard To Be Nice.” Best music was won by Indian pic “Tale of a River.”

Special awards by the jury were given to Czech drama “Empties” and Chinese docu “The Imperial Garden.”

Closing ceremony, like the opening on Sept. 17, was held at the Pyongyang Intl. Cinema House, a multiplex on Yanggakdo island in the middle of the city.